The number of housing transactions in Cyprus rose 27.4% in 2022 compared to 2021; the highest percentage increase of the 16 EU member states.
Interestingly, in 2022, the number of housing transactions fell in 10 EU member states following an increase in nearly all countries in 2021 compared with 2020.
According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the largest decreases in the number of transactions in 2022 were recorded in Denmark (-31.6%), Finland (-16.6%), the Netherlands (-16.2%) and Luxembourg (-15.1%), while the highest increases were registered in Cyprus (+27.4%), Ireland (+7.7%) and Spain (+6.0%).
Since COVID-19 started, the housing market has been volatile. In 2020, there was a general drop in housing transactions due to lockdown measures, with only four (Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Austria) of the EU countries covered registering an increase in sales.
This was followed by a period of growth in 2021, with sales going up in the 16 EU countries covered, except for the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The market was so hot in 2021 that 11 out of 16 countries with available data registered annual rates of change above 10%, with the highest increases recorded in Spain (+39.3%) and Bulgaria (+39.0%).
House sale statistics notes:
House sales statistics are provided by Member States on a voluntary basis. Data on the number of housing transactions are available for 16 EU countries.
The data covers the transactions of new and existing dwellings (apartments and houses) where the buyer is a household.
